Risk Assessment and Changes to Fire Safety Law
09. May, 2010 
2 Comments
A risk assessment is a controlled look at what, in your work activities and workplace, can cause harm to people. Before you begin your risk assessment, verify whether any of the fire safety arrangements in your workplace have previously been approved under other fire safety, licensing or building legislation. Your risk assessment may discover additional matters that need to be dealt with if the previous approval was given according to an outdated standard of fire precautions, or the approval was under legislation that does not cover all the requirements of the Fire Regulations.
New fire safety and risk assessment regulations affecting all non-domestic premises in England and Wales came into force on October 1, 2006. If you are:
- In charge of business premises,
- A manager or self-employed person with business premises,
- In charge of a section of a residence where that section is exclusively used for business purposes.
- A charity or voluntary organisation,
- A service provider with a degree of control over any premises,
…then you need to act now to make sure that you have an appropriate and adequate risk assessment in place.
Risk assessment is perhaps the most essential component of health and safety since it allows you to learn what can cause harm to people in your office or place of work. The simplest type of risk assessment is known as the “Five Steps” system, which is perfectly adequate for use by any workplace. There are always hazards in and around the workplace that can cause harm to staff, volunteers, visitors and other members of the public.
Looking After Hazards
Hazards can range from objects that can cause someone to trip or fall, things that get hot that can burn, electrical dangers and hazards from equipment such as display screens. It is easy to ignore some hazards because they are familiar. In order to avoid this, use a floor plan of the building and mark on it where each hazard is. Consider the people that use the building and how the hazard might affect them.
A fire can begin very easily and spread with terrifying speed.
- Keep electrical leads and appliances away from water.
- Turn off electrical appliances when they’re not being used and service them regularly.
- Don’t overload electrical sockets. Put only one plug in each socket. If you need to plug in more appliances than there are sockets, use a bar type fuse adaptor and keep the total amps of all plugs in the adaptor to 13 amps or less.
Disabled people, children and the elderly must all be given special consideration. As you evaluate the risk, think about those things that are already in place to reduce it. “Risk” refers to the fact that someone might be harmed. Risk assessments must be done in writing if you have five or more employees, and this includes volunteers. The assessments must be dated and preferably signed, and filed in a safe place for future reference.
Assessments must be reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain valid. Since you are more likely to spot hazards and make a judgement about the risk after the assessment is done, particularly if you have never done one before, it is a good idea to review them about every six months. If you have large or complex premises, the guidelines above can help you with the fire risk assessment, but you may need added information.
This fresh approach to fire safety law signifies the most noteworthy change for over 30 years. The new system has been set up to make matters more clear-cut for people to understand what they must do. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order replaced the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended in 1999.
Whilst business owners are able to carry out fire risk assessments themselves, they would have to be confident in managing a process that covered fire safety, fire policy, procedures, fire drills, means of escape, emergency lighting, fire alarms and fire extinguishers,fire doors, fire evacuations, signs and notices and
fire training courses.
This is can be quite a complex process to manage hence sometimes it is better to call upon the expertise of a trained external assessor to complete the assessment.
Hey Gavin,
Yes risk assessments are complex, and people can choose to pay a company to come and do an assessment on their behalf, at a price.
However, many people find it cheaper and easier to order a DVD talking them through it ( a good example is the range for sale at http://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/fire-training-risk-assessment/) or use the free forms from the government website talking you through what should be addressed and how on your premises, these are not only vastly cheaper alternatives but also they enable the owners to get a better understanding of feel for their company and where there are possible issues that need to be addressed, also doing it this way people are able to involve the entire staff so that everyone is aware of the safety procedures ( Ours took us at most half a day using a training DVD).
Once the assessment has been completed people are then able to buy the necessary items from a supplier of their choice, rather than often feeling under pressure to buy it from the risk assessment company usually at a higher price.
So really it is a matter of choice, whether someone would do it themselves to gain a better understanding and get more value for their money or possibly save time but lay out more cost getting a company to do it for them.